Bay View RV Resort, Rockport, Texas – January 27-February 2, 2014

Wow, another week in a very chilly paradise. We awakened to temps in the mid-50s on Monday, and it didn't get much warmer through the entire week. The wind confined us to walking through the RV Park on Monday; it would've been too windy and chilly to walk along the water.

That night we went to the clubhouse for movie night. This week's showing was "Captain Phillips" starring Tom Hanks. The movie was based upon the book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea," written by Captain Richard Phillips. It's the story of the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged Maersk ship Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in 200 years. Very intense, but a really good movie. Highly recommended.

Temperatures weren't much above 40 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday. Brr! So much for my tan this year! The chilly temps didn't deter me (and about a dozen other ladies) from attending the weekly "Stitch and b…" session. It's always so fun to see what others are working on, from knitting and crocheting, to counted cross stitch, jewelry making, quilting and basket weaving. Afterwards I gave a 30-minute piano lesson to one of the gals, who had recently bought herself a keyboard. This is her first attempt at playing keys; she played a sax earlier in her life so she can read music, which helps. (You go, Terri!)

Later in the day I spent about 1½ hours preparing documentation for the project Dick is working on for the park. His project is progressing well, but there is always more to do. He's the "go to" guy for anything computer-related in the park, both from the office and from other RVers. He claims he's retired, but…

Wednesday we walked along the water, even though the temperatures weren't very warm—only in the mid-40s—but the sun was shining. That afternoon we had another rousing game of Pegs and Jokers, with Bob and Sharon, Marvin and Shirley, Bill and Carole, and Wes and Carolyn. We extended the game from 8 boards to 10, so 10 people could play--it was a looooong game. Sadly, the men are overtaking the women: men 2, women 0. Dinner at the clubhouse that evening was hot roast beef sandwiches, with apple crisp and ice cream for dessert. Yum-yum!

Last month the ladies went on a shopping trip to Corpus Christi; this month it was to Victoria, Texas. Eleven gals and 1 guy climbed aboard a 12-passenger van for the hour-long trip. What fun! We left the RV park at 9 a.m., returning at 4:40 p.m. We shopped 'til we dropped at the Victoria Mall, followed by lunch at Olive Garden. Afterward we spent a good hour at Hobby Lobby before heading home. We always have such a good time, laughing, chatting and shopping.

The "Skimmer"

This time of year brings the whooping cranes to south Texas, 2,400 miles from Wood Buffalo National Park in the northern reaches of Alberta, Canada where most of the existing cranes summer and breed. Friday morning 6 of us took a 3-hour birding tour aboard the "Skimmer," a shallow draft boat, through the inner islands and barrier reefs to capture photos of them in their natural Texas habitat. Marvin and Shirley, Bob and Sharon, Dick and I were up at the crack of dawn for this trip; temperatures were in the mid-50s, and although there was thick fog in the area, by the time we boarded the sun was burning off the fog and presenting a beautiful start to the day.

L to R: Marvin, RJ, Sharon, Gail, Shirley

The Skimmer before we head out

Beautiful sunrise over the marina

The Skimmer's wake

Sunrise over the Inner Coastal

Airboat in the mist; these boats/rides are
very popular in the Coastal Bend of Texas.

 Here's a bit of information on the “Whoopers", taken from various sites on the Internet.

Whooping cranes are the tallest bird in North America, standing approximately 5 feet tall and have a 7½ foot wingspan. The "Whoopers" breed in the wetlands of Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Canada and spend the winter on the Texas coast at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Rockport. Whooping cranes begin their fall migration south to Texas in mid-September and begin the spring migration north to Canada in late March or early April, migrating more than 2,400 miles a year.

As many as 1,400 whooping cranes migrated across North America in the mid-1800s. By the late 1930s, the Aransas population was down to just 18 birds, but due to the well-coordinated efforts to protect habitat and the birds themselves, the population is slowly increasing. In 1993, the population stood at 112. In the spring of 2002, it is estimated that there were 173 whoopers - a small, but important increase. Today, three populations exist: one in the Kissimmee Prairie of Florida, the only migratory population at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, and a very small captive-bred population in Wisconsin.

Whooping cranes typically live up to 24 years in the wild, mating for life, but will accept a new mate if one dies. The female lays 1 or 2 blotchy, olive-colored eggs, usually in late-April to mid-May. The mated pair shares brooding duties; either the male or the female is always on the nest for the 29-31 days of incubation. Both parents brood the young, although the female is more likely to directly tend to the young. The parents often feed the young for 6–8 months after birth, terminating the offspring-parent relationship after about 1 year. (There's a report of one male whooping crane that didn't mate and breed until he was around 79 years old...and, he fathered numerous chicks after that!)

Generally, only one chick survives in a season, leaving the nest while quite young, but still protected and fed by its parents. Chicks are rust-colored when they hatch; at about four months, chicks' feathers begin turning white, and by the end of their first migration, they are brown and white. As they enter their first spring, their plumage is more like that of an adult: white with black wing tips.

Cranes live in family groups made up of the parents and 1 or 2 offspring. The hatchlings will stay with their parents throughout their first winter, and separate when the spring migration begins; the young adults form groups and travel together. In the spring, whooping cranes perform courtship displays (loud calling, wing flapping, leaping in the air) as they get ready to migrate to their breeding grounds.

Here's a video RJ shot of a whooper feeding:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dRigWCJQOY

These birds forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes probing with their bills. They are omnivorous and more inclined to animal material than most other cranes. In their Texas wintering grounds, they feed on various crustaceans, mollusks, fish (eel), berries, small reptiles and aquatic plants. Potential foods of breeding birds in summer  frogs, small rodents, smaller birds, fish, aquatic insects, crayfish, clams, snails, aquatic tubers, and berries. Studies from 1946 to 2005 have reported that blue crabs are a significant food source for whooping cranes wintering at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, constituting up to 90 percent of their energy intake in two winters; 1992–93 and 1993-94. Waste grain, including wheat, barley and corn, is an important food for migrating whooping cranes.”

The whoopers are so beautiful. We saw many more species of birds, as well, so thought we'd share these photos with you. Among the list of birds we saw, other than the whooping cranes, were: the common loon, white and brown pelicans, cormorants, great blue and little herons, great and snowy egrets, the white ibis, roseate spoonbills, goldeneye and bufflehead ducks, the turkey vulture, osprey, red-tailed hawk, sandhill crane, American oystercatchers, willets, kingfishers, and the scissor-tailed flycatchers. Cool, huh.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Blue Heron in flight

Ibis

Blue Heron

Ducks in flight

Great Blue Heron

Black Skimmers

Common Loon

Above and below: Osprey

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture and Blue Heron

Blue Heron

Blue Herons and White Pelican

Blue Herons

Turkey Vulture

Cormorants

Blue Heron

A flock of Roseate Spoonbills

Roseate Spoonbill

Just a note on the brown pelicans, which we see everywhere here. They are one of the only two pelican species which feeds by diving into the water. They are exceptionally buoyant due to the internal air sacks beneath their skin and in their bones, and as graceful in the air as they are clumsy on land. In level flight, pelicans fly in groups, with their heads held back on their shoulders, the bills resting on their folded necks. They may fly in a "V", but usually in regular lines or single file, often low over the water's surface.

The smallest of the eight species of pelican, the brown pelican is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is 42–54 inches in length, and weighs from 6 to 12 pounds. Its wingspan ranges from 6 to 8 feet. Like all pelicans, this species has a very large bill, 11 to 13.7 inches long, with a pouch on the bottom for draining water when it scoops out prey. The head is white but often gets a yellowish wash in adult birds.

We've seen many American white pelicans here, too, so we thought we would share some details on them, too. The white pelican  has an overall length is about 50–70 inches, due mainly to the huge beak which measures 11–15 inches in males and 10-14 inches in females. It has a wingspan of about 95–120 inches, the second largest average wingspan of any North American bird (after the California Condor). Body weight can range between 9 and 30 pounds. The plumage is almost entirely bright white, except the black primary and secondary feathers, which are hardly visible except in flight.

 

White Pelicans in flight

Pelican landing

The bill is huge and flat on the top, with a large throat sac below, and, in the breeding season, is vivid orange in color as is the iris, the bare skin around the eye, and the feet. In the breeding season, there is a laterally flattened "horn" on the upper bill, located about one-third the bill's length behind the tip. This is the only one of the eight species of pelican to have a bill "horn." The horn is shed after the birds have mated and laid their eggs. (We saw quite a few pelicans with this "horn" during our birding tour.)

When foraging, pelicans may fly a few feet or a considerable height over a school of fish and dive at high speed into the water, often submerging completely below the surface momentarily as they snap up prey. Upon surfacing they spill the water from the throat pouch before swallowing their catch.

As we were on the tour, a bottlenose dolphin decided to "play" beneath the boat, and raced alongside it for quite a while. So fun to see!

By 11:00 a.m. we were back at the park, packing up the laundry to make the trek to the Laundromat. A trip to Walmart followed, then an afternoon of doing "stuff" around home. Later we attended happy hour at the clubhouse, where a group of 6 fellow RVers serenaded us with "oldies but goodies" with their guitars, stand-up bass and vocals. What a turnout! The clubhouse was packed! Others brought snack items to share; I brought fresh pineapple in pineapple boats drizzled with crème de menthe. Good stuff all around! (I mentioned to one of the band members that if they could come up with a keyboard I'd play along…Terri, the wife of one of the players, has a keyboard I could use, so we'll see…)

Saturday, after Dick spent some time at the office working, we decided to attend the wood carvers' show at the Aransas Pass Convention Center. Although it didn't seem as large a show as last year, there was still some impressive workmanship! Except for the intarsia pieces, everything is carved from just one piece of wood. Here are some photos:

Intarsia Elk: 14 different woods are used in this
masterpiece.

Sunday: church, breakfast, and then Super Bowl!

Pastor Jones' message was taken from John 5:13-30—how we need to know, understand and believe who Jesus is in order to have life—now and eternally. Here's the link:  http://fbcrockport.net/online-sermons/

Then…Pegs and Jokers with Bob and Sharon, Marvin and Shirley, and Bill and Carole, before the big game. Sadly, again, the women couldn't pull off wins. The guys are catching up. Dang…c'mon gals…we can do this! Next attempt: Wednesday afternoon.

SUPER BOWL! Need I say more? Congratulations, Seahawks!! We rooted our Seahawks along to the win, with just a few other RVers. (Many of the RVers in the park are from Colorado—rivalry! They're awfully quiet today…) There were lots of good eats, too: chili con queso, black bean dip, and lots of chips. I brought caprese skewers (mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and cherry tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar). Yum, yum—although I think folks were more interested in the game than eating. We had Coney Island dogs, baked beans, coleslaw and chips part-way through the game, so no one went away hungry.

These shots were taken from Facebook, posted by friends and Seahawk supporters in Seattle. We’re so proud of our guys.

Photos of downtown Seattle: the ferris wheel on the waterfront
and the Space Needle

Hope this finds you well. We're still hoping for warm weather before we leave the end of April.

Love 'n' hugs,

RJ and Gail